


Hermit's Restoration

by godmedallion



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godmedallion/pseuds/godmedallion
Summary: On a quiet night, late in the year, Ibaraki Kasen has a simple request -- to take back a long-lost treasure from her enemy.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Hermit's Restoration

Ibaraki Kasen was already waiting when Marisa opened the door to Kourindou; sitting at a table amidst the piles of Outside World junk and drinking tea with Onozuka Komachi. As she entered, Marisa waved at Rinnosuke, who nodded back before returning to his magazine; from the expression on his face, Kasen had probably picked out some of his best tea.

“You got my message, then?” asked Kasen, smiling at her.

Marisa nodded. “Bit cryptic though, wasn’t it?” she replied. “‘Come to Kourindou, it’s important.’ First time I ever got mail by eagle, too…”

“I assure you, it _is_ important,” said Kasen coolly. “I have need of your expertise. You’re the second best in Gensokyo, after all.”

“Sure am!” said Marisa cheerfully. “…That said, I wouldn’t have thought that youkai would be a problem for you. Is it something to do with Hell, or…?”

“Actually,” started Kasen, “it’s your, uh, _other_ kind of expertise.”

“Ehh…?”

Komachi laughed quietly, and Kasen glanced at her. “She’s talking about your breaking-and-entering kind of expertise,” she said, smirking.

Marisa raised her eyebrows. “You want me to break into someone’s house?” she asked, surprised. “Whose?”

“The number one expert’s, of course,” said Komachi, before Kasen could say anything. “She’s got something important, and you and I are gonna go grab it.”

Kasen put her face in her hands. “Komachi, I told you, I didn’t want to discuss this in front of Morichika…”

Rinnosuke glanced at the trio from over his magazine. “I haven’t heard anything,” he said calmly. “Nothing out of the usual for Marisa, at least.”

“Thanks, Kourin,” said Marisa. “So, uh… the number one’s…?”

“Kaku Seiga,” answered Kasen. “Komachi will help you get into her senkai, but you’ve got more expertise in disabling magical defences than she has.”

Marisa nodded. “Of course, of course. And what’s in it for me?”

“Other than the item in question, you can take whatever you’d like from Seiga’s home. Is that enough?”

Marisa was silent for a moment, and the other two women watched her carefully. Finally, she asked, “So, what is it you’re trying to grab, anyway?”

“Komachi will point it out once you’re in.” Kasen sipped her tea, her eyes never wavering from Marisa. “But you’re willing to do it?”

“Can I think about it?” asked Marisa.

“Not for too long,” said Kasen. “It has to be tonight, after all.”

“Huh? What’s so important about tonight?”

“Tonight’s the night where Kaku Seiga goes around breaking into peoples’ homes and taking their valuables,” replied Kasen. “One of those odd Western holidays, I think…? But it means that we can be sure her senkai’s unprotected.”

Marisa was quiet again, nodding to herself. “Alright,” she said after a few moments, “I’ll help. But you’ve gotta tell me what you’re trying to grab, first.”

Kasen glanced at Komachi, and the shikigami shrugged. The hermit hesitated for another moment, and then finally answered, “It’s her jiang shi. I want you to help me steal Miyako Yoshika.”

* * *

It’s easy to destroy a jiang shi. A blade made from the wood of one of the peach trees growing in Kasen’s garden could do it.

But she had been looking for something more than that. And at last, perhaps, she had found it.

* * *

They had waited in Kourindou for another few hours, until the Sun began to set, and then Kasen finally rose.

“It’s time for you to get to work,” she’d said. “We’ll meet at my senkai when you’re done.”

“And what about you?” Marisa had asked.

“I’ve got my own work to do,” the hermit had replied, enigmatic as ever. “Just as important, too.” And she’d nodded, wished them luck, and left.

Komachi had been quiet for a moment after that, and then grinned at Marisa. “You ready?” she asked.

Marisa nodded in response, and Komachi’s grin grew wider, and then she stood on the road outside of Kourindou and began to move her hands through the air, as if playing a stringed instrument made of wind.

For a moment, the shinigami hesitated, and then seemed to pluck at the invisible strings before her, listening carefully.

Then she swung her scythe around, and a door appeared in the air outside Kourindou.

“Can you teach me to do that?” asked Marisa.

“Have you got a spare fifty years?” replied Komachi, walking over to the door and carefully moving her hands over its outline. “It takes at least that long to learn the basics.” After another moment of examining the door, she nodded. “Alright, it’s stable! Come on, if you’re coming.”

Marisa jumped through, and immediately found herself in a different space; a brightly lit courtyard filled with fountains and statues. In the distance -- maybe a twenty minute walk -- stood what could only be described as a small mansion, a wide, squat building that shone in the light of the warm lanterns that hung from it and surrounded it.

“This is Seiga’s senkai?” asked Marisa, surprised. “I was expecting something a bit more…”

“Wicked?” suggested Komachi. She shrugged. “I’m sure it’d get exhausting even for Seiga to play the villain all the time. Anyway, keep an eye out.”

Marisa nodded, and took a small plastic bag, filled with soil, from one of her pockets. She stared into it, and the shinigami stared at her in turn.

“This should be detecting any magical boundaries…” murmured Marisa. “But it doesn’t seem to be picking any up.”

“Maybe it doesn’t work on Taoist magic?” asked Komachi, frowning.

Marisa shook her head. “It’s based on Patchy’s techniques, and she knows just as much about Taoist magic as any other kind. Maybe… maybe there just aren’t any defences?”

The two of them turned again to look at the mansion that sat, silently waiting, in the distance.

“Well,” said Komachi, confidently, “only one way to find out!”

And without further hesitation, the two of them began to walk into Kaku Seiga’s senkai.

* * *

Ibaraki Kasen had expected the Netherworld to be quiet, but in fact the phantoms were swarming around her eagerly, the silent echoes of their whispering voices filling the air with a low buzzing that only intensified the closer she got to Hakugyokurou.

That building, too, was both busier and brighter than she had expected; its roof and its walls had all been draped with thousands of small, coloured lights, and half-phantoms were rushing in and out of its various entrances bearing silver platters laden with food. As she approached the main entrance, she could hear the eerie sound of the music of the Prismrivers, as well as the loud murmuring of the conversation of hundreds of phantoms.

She spoke quickly to the half-phantom at the door, who ran inside and brought out the mansion’s gardener, Konpaku Youmu. Holding a platter in each hand, she seemed even more stressed than usual, and ran off so quickly after hearing Kasen’s request that the hermit wasn’t sure she’d even heard it properly.

But soon after that, the princess of Hakugyokurou emerged, idly walking out, a silver plate loaded with food in one hand, a turkey drumstick in the other, and a thin blue paper crown on her head in place of her usual hat.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then Yuyuko remarked, “I’ve been expecting you, you know.”

“I don’t think I was invited…?” replied Kasen weakly.

Yuyuko took another bite of her drumstick, and laughed. “Oh, not for this -- though you’re welcome to join if you’re that interested. No…” The ghost princess’ eyes narrowed, examining the other one with an intelligent gaze. “…I’ve been expecting you in the Netherworld for several decades, now.”

“Then you know why I’m here.”

“Of course. That said… I’m not really meant to just let the phantoms go wandering off, you know? Especially not for something like this.”

Yuyuko continued nonchalantly chewing on her drumstick, and Kasen hesitated for a moment. It’s not that she hadn’t been expecting something like this -- she’d met Yuyuko before, after all -- but it was always unsettling to be read so easily.

It was only when Yuyuko stopped eating and began to pick up something else from her plate that Kasen spoke.

“I’ll accept the consequences of my actions,” she said, decisively. “I’m certain that the Yama wouldn’t disagree with them.”

Yuyuko raised her eyebrows, and giggled. “I don’t know if it’s the Yama you’d need to be worrying about, but if you’re that sure, I doubt that I could stop you.” She raised her arm, and from underneath the silver platter floated a small phantom, identical to all the others. “Here you go.”

The phantom floated around Kasen, but if it spoke, she couldn’t hear it. She watched it for a moment, and then bowed to Yuyuko. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome~!” replied Yuyuko cheerfully. “I hope everything goes well for you. If it doesn’t, though, make sure to bring her back? Who knows, you might even have time to join the celebrations.”

“I feel like this might take a while, but I appreciate the offer,” said Kasen, picking herself up. The small phantom swum through the air around her left arm.

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” Yuyuko winked at her. “I think we should be able to keep this party going for at least another few days. Maybe even a week, to ring in the new year!”

Suddenly the strained expression on Youmu’s face made more sense.

“…I’ll think about it,” replied Kasen, and turned away, the phantom following her as she went.

Yuyuko watched her leave for a moment, then walked back inside, taking her place at the head of the massive, overladen table currently filling Hakugyokurou’s inner courtyard.

“So, how’d it go?” asked the woman sitting next to her.

Yuyuko hummed thoughtfully. “I don’t think it’s going to go well,” she admitted. “She seemed a bit too earnest, a bit too reckless. I don’t know if she’s prepared properly.”

“I’ll have to intervene after all, huh…” the other woman murmured. “I was having such a lovely night, too.”

“Consider it your good deed of the year, Yukari.”

The gap youkai sighed. “Just make sure you’re still here when I get back, alright~?”

She vanished, and without hesitation, Yuyuko began to slide Yukari’s abandoned food onto her own plate.

* * *

In the end, they had no trouble entering Seiga’s home. The door wasn’t even locked.

At its heart, in a moonlit courtyard, the jiang shi stood, motionless, her dead eyes staring up at the blurry moon and her rough lips mumbling quietly. She didn’t move even as the two of them approached her, and examined her carefully.

“So, uh, how are we gonna move her?” asked Marisa.

Komachi crept ever-closer to the jiang shi, and grabbed her arm. The creature reacted immediately, swinging Komachi over her head with surprising force and unceremoniously slamming her into the ground, causing the shinigami to lose her grip. Her eyes focused, and she tilted her head curiously at them.

Without warning, she leapt at Marisa, and the witch jumped into the air, swinging her broomstick around so that she hung in the air above her. The jiang shi immediately leapt up, but by that time, Marisa had brought out her mini-hakkero.

It fired, blasting a hole into and through the jiang shi, throwing her backwards and causing her to collide against the wall. Her arm fell off, and she stared at it dumbly.

She reached out with her other arm, but Komachi grabbed it and sliced it off with her scythe in a single clean motion. With no other options remaining, the jiang shi bit down on the shinigami’s arm.

Ignoring the bite, Komachi flung the jiang shi over her shoulder. “Marisa, you wanna grab those arms?” she asked. She glanced at the decaying zombie and sighed. “I reckon Kasen’ll be unhappy enough with what we’ve done without leaving bits behind.”

They began to walk out, Marisa holding Yoshika’s arms and her broomstick under one arm, and carefully watching her bag of sand with the other. Somehow, it felt too easy for her.

And as they emerged from the home, they realised it had been. Floating in front of the door that led out of the senkai was a short woman dressed in blue, with a white veil trailing around her.

Marisa immediately turned to walk back into Seiga’s home, but the door slammed in front of her. She glanced up at Komachi, but the shinigami was watching the hermit with an expression that mixed caution and distaste.

“I just thought that I’d check on things back home,” the wicked hermit remarked casually. “And what would you know? A couple of thieves had broken in, and were trying to steal my dear little pet~”

Komachi carefully moved her scythe between her and Seiga, and the hermit raised an eyebrow.

“You want to fight me~?” she asked. “You really think a shinigami of your level would stand a chance against me, in my own senkai?”

“Hey,” Komachi said, grabbing Marisa’s arm with her free hand, “grab on.”

The shinigami swung her scythe down, and suddenly they shot past Seiga and through the doorway. Even as they did, it began to disappear, but the wicked hermit made a gesture and the doorway froze for long enough for her to slip through. Komachi looked up at her miserably.

“Oh, don’t look so glum,” said Seiga. “This doesn’t have to end in violence, after all! Just hand over my property, and--”

It was hard to tell what happened next. Marisa had the impression of something flying past her, colliding with Seiga, and throwing her past Kourindou into the trees behind it. It was only when another object flew past her that Marisa realised it was a snowball, compacted so completely through inhuman strength that it was almost unbreakable, and flung with such speed that it had the impact of a cannonball.

The second snowball, colliding with Seiga again, caused the tree she’d collided with to collapse on top of her.

After a moment, Marisa and Komachi looked towards the direction of the snowballs’ origin, but only saw the empty, snow-coated farmlands stretching away.

They glanced at each other, then towards the unconscious Seiga, and then at Yoshika, who was currently motionless, still flung over Komachi’s shoulder.

“I guess we should start heading for Kasen’s place, then…?” suggested Marisa, after a moment.

Komachi nodded, and, after making sure they had a tight grip on Yoshika’s arms, the two of them lifted into the air, flying towards Youkai Mountain.

* * *

Seiga regained consciousness after a few minutes, pulling herself out from under the tree, and frowning. She was hard to kill, but the pair of impacts had damaged her dress, and worse, she’d been unable to stop them taking her jiang shi.

\--Or maybe not. As she looked around, she spotted a pair of figures vanishing into the distance in the sky. It’d be easy enough to catch up to them, and--

“Oh, hey, you’re awake.”

The snow that had gathered around her began to float, coalescing into the shape of a small woman with a pair of long horns.

“An oni…?” mumbled Seiga. “Why would an oni…?”

Suika shrugged. “Oh, you know us oni. We live as we please, doing what we like. ‘Sides, it’s been a while since I’ve done a hermit hunt.” She winked. “Even got told where you were. Lucky, huh?”

“If you’d like a hermit hunt,” started Seiga, “then--”

Suika took a long drink from her gourd, and laughed. “Why’d I settle for someone else when I’ve got you right here? C’mon, I’m gonna take you underground.”

“Underground?” repeated Seiga. “Down into that-- that youkai-infested--”

“Hey, now,” said Suika, her voice going quiet, “I’m a youkai myself, y’know. And you wouldn’t be the first hermit I’ve killed, even if it’s against the rules.” Then, her voice returning to its normal, boisterous energy, “So, you’ve got no choice, y’know? C’mon, c’mon, it’ll be fun! We’ll party until you can’t think anymore!”

Suika grabbed her arm, and began dragging the still-protesting hermit away.

Rinnosuke, who had watched the entire affair unfold through the windows of Kourindou, sighed, and walked back into his kitchen, now that he was finally certain he wouldn’t be interrupted from making a meal by someone throwing a hermit through his store.

* * *

Kasen glanced up as Komachi and Marisa entered the mansion within her senkai, carrying the motionless pieces of Miyako Yoshika. She frowned.

“Why did you remove her arms?” she asked, and then immediately held up her hand. “No. Nevermind. I know what you’re both going to say.” She sighed. “Hopefully it shouldn’t matter… the spell’s restorative, anyway.”

“So, is this where you tell me what this is all about?” asked Marisa.

Kasen gave her an odd look. “You’ll see soon enough,” she replied, picking up Yoshika’s body and carrying the prone figure further into her senkai. Still carrying the arms, Marisa and Komachi followed, finding themselves in a wide room with candles arranged around the corners and a variety of shapes carved into the ground.

The hermit placed the jiang shi delicately in the centre of the largest circle, near one end of the room, and gestured for Marisa to place the arms beside her. Then, she stood back as Kasen began to rush about the room, setting down herbs or crystals, tapping circles or drawing shapes in the air. She glanced at Komachi.

“Is this what Taoism is?” she asked.

Komachi shrugged. “It’s some ritual she found the other day, a bit of a mix of a lot of stuff. But the core’s Taoist; after all, only they can make jiang shi.”

“So all this was just to get rid of Yoshika, huh…” mused Marisa.

Komachi stared at her, surprised. “To get rid of her?” she asked. “Of course not. It’s easy to kill a jiang shi. _I_ could do it. No, what Kasen’s aiming for is a bit trickier, and not… _technically_ something I should be helping her do.”

Marisa was quiet for a moment. “If Eiki asks, I don’t know anything.”

“Thanks, Marisa.”

Around them, the circles began to glow.

* * *

It’s easy to destroy a jiang shi.

It’s another thing entirely to bring one back to life.

Indeed, for a long time Kasen had believed it was impossible. And then one day, buried in the thousands of Taoist scribblings she had gathered over the years, she had found the ritual she sought.

She’d debated using it for months, but her time of indecision was over.

…Or so she told herself, at least.

* * *

A small phantom emerged from behind Kasen and floated over the body, surrounded by the glowing circles. The symbols on them began to spin, a sequence of magical gears that rotated faster and faster, until all the air in the room was rushing towards the two figures at their heart.

And then, unceremoniously, the phantom floated into the corpse. It shuddered, and shone, blindingly, and when the light was gone, she was whole again -- but still motionless.

And the circles began to slow down and fade, until the room was once again silent. Kasen reached over to Yoshika’s prone body, placed her left hand on its neck, and hung her head.

Komachi began to walk over, but Kasen suddenly stood up, facing the heavens.

“Yakumo!” she yelled. “You’re watching, aren’t you? You’ve been following me since Hakugyokurou!”

The air above the corpse distorted, and Yukari appeared, sitting in midair, and holding something wrapped in cloth across her lap.

She smiled. “Would you like my help, Ibarakasen?”

Kasen hesitated. “I would,” she admitted. “I-- I need your help to restore this jiang shi.”

Yukari raised an eyebrow. “Bringing the dead back to life is a substantial request. Not that I _can’t_ do it, but why _should_ I?”

“Surely the elimination of this jiang shi should be enough?” asked Kasen. “It should be the obligation of all those with knowledge of the Tao--”

“Oh, if all you want is elimination--” started Yukari, and in a single swift motion drew the wooden sword from its wrappings and swung it down, so that its point hovered less than an inch from Yoshika’s chest. Kasen reached out immediately, and Yukari batted her arm away with her umbrella in her other hand. Her catlike smile grew wider. “Ibarakasen, I think you’re lying to me. So tell me again, why should I help you restore this jiang shi?”

“You--” started Kasen, then gritted her teeth. She glanced over at Komachi and Marisa, who were watching silently. Then, dragging her eyes back to Yukari, “You already know why.”

“To bring someone back to life is to defy the laws of Heaven,” said Yukari calmly. “Now, I don’t care about those, but you do. So answer me, Ibarakasen.”

Kasen almost looked away again. She wavered, for an instant, and then stood still.

“I don’t want to see her suffer any more than she already has,” said Kasen, quietly.

Yukari laughed. “To free her from suffering--” she declared, and stabbed downwards, before Kasen could even react.

Around them, the circles began to shine again, illusory gears spinning in every colour of the rainbow. The candles around the room went out; the stones and the fragrances vanished; and it seemed that the only thing in the world was the blade penetrating Yoshika’s chest.

“The wood of a peach tree,” came Yukari’s voice, “purifies the body. The jiang shi must be destroyed. Only then can a human come back to life.” Her voice faded, until it was almost a whisper. “Only in death are we reborn, Ibaraki Kasen. You should know that.”

The circles spun silently, but the intense light almost began to generate its own sound, a rushing, screeching sound that Marisa felt would tear through her. She grasped desperately for the door, but found neither wall, nor floor; there was nothing left in that world but the circles, and that simple blade made of peach wood.

Every circle shone violet, and vanished. The room returned, as it was. Marisa and Komachi slumped against the wall, whilst Kasen fell to her knees beside Yoshika.

Carefully, hesitantly, the hermit placed her hand once more on Miyako no Yoshika’s neck, feeling for a pulse. For a moment, there was nothing, and then--

A raspy voice, not unused, but unpractised:

“It’s been a while, Oni of Rashoumon.”

* * *

Yukari reappeared in her seat in Hakugyokurou, and immediately began re-filling her plate.

Yuyuko looked sideways at her. “It all went well?”

“As well as it could have gone, I suppose…” The gap youkai shrugged. “Honestly, I wrote out the entire ritual for her, and she still didn’t use the peach wood. That’s what comes of trying not to take risks.” She finished filling her plate, and glanced up at the ceiling. “You never get what you want without taking a risk, after all.”

“And when was the last time _you_ took a risk, Yukari?”

“Why, dearest Yuyuko, I already have everything I could ever want.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, first of all, I got the idea for this from watching SuikaKasen a few weeks ago. If you know what that is, then you probably already understand; if you don't, don't worry about it. Maybe look it up?
> 
> But, you know, I watched it, and I enjoyed it, and it made me think about the Kasen fic I wrote earlier this year (though it feels a lot longer than that. 2020...!). I felt like my perspective of Kasen was different to theirs; and it made me wonder, would I have done that the same way? And I eventually decided I wouldn't have. So I had the idea of Kasen setting up a heist to steal Yoshika, and this story was the natural result. I'd like to think it's different enough to stand on its own, but it's hard to tell, sometimes. Which is why I'm explaining myself, I suppose.
> 
> ...But I had fun writing it. It's nice to get back to something slightly longer -- though I have a couple of large things currently in the works, I'm only working on those intermittently, whereas I was able to get this done relatively quickly. And I feel pretty happy with it. So that's what really matters (?)
> 
> I should do more stuff with Kasen...
> 
> Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy, and here's to a better 2021~!


End file.
